Immigration Outside the Law

Hiroshi Motomura

Follow-up companion volume to the authoritative and award-winning Americans in Waiting (Oxford University Press, 2006)

Gives a scholarly perspective on a perennially controversial issue

Offers concrete solutions to many of today's thorniest questions around immigration

Immigration Outside the Law

Hiroshi Motomura

Description

In 1975, Texas adopted a law allowing school districts to bar children from public schools if they were in the United States unlawfully. The US Supreme Court responded in 1982 with a landmark decision, Plyler v. Doe, that kept open the schoolhouse doors, allowing these children to get the education that state law would have denied. The Court established a child's constitutional right to attend public elementary and secondary schools, regardless of immigration status. With Plyler, three questions emerged that have remained central to the national conversation about immigration outside the law: What does it mean to be in the country unlawfully? What is the role of state and local governments in dealing with unauthorized migration? Are unauthorized migrants
"Americans in waiting?"

Today, as the United States weighs immigration reform, debates over "illegal" or "undocumented" immigrants have become more polarized than ever. In Immigration Outside the Law, acclaimed immigration law expert Hiroshi Motomura, author of the award-winning Americans in Waiting, offers a framework for understanding why these debates are so contentious. In a reasoned, lucid, and careful discussion, he explains the history of unauthorized migration, the sources of current disagreements, and points the way toward durable answers. In his refreshingly fair-minded analysis, Motomura explains the complexities of immigration outside the law for students and scholars, policy-makers looking for constructive solutions, and anyone who cares about this contentious
issue.

Immigration Outside the Law

Hiroshi Motomura

Table of Contents

PrefaceIntroduction: The ChildrenUndocumented or Illegal?The State and Local RoleAmericans in Waiting?Who Enforces?Building CommunitiesConsider the Past--and the FutureMoving ForwardNotes

Immigration Outside the Law

Hiroshi Motomura

Author Information

Hiroshi Motomura is Susan Westerberg Prager Professor of Law at UCLA and author of Americans in Waiting.

Immigration Outside the Law

Hiroshi Motomura

Reviews and Awards

WINNER OF THE 2015 PROSE AWARD FOR LAW AND LEGAL STUDIES

"The most thoughtfully and honestly argued brief for a liberal immigration regime in the United States that one is likely to find... Professor Motomura develops subtle legal,
historical, and ethical arguments for opening up America's borders so as to
normalize the movement of hundreds of thousands of migrants who are
otherwise 'outside the law.'" --Peter Skerry, The American Interest

"Explains precisely why many unauthorized immigrants should also be understood as "Americans in waiting" despite their tenuous status under the law... Reflects a nuanced and humane account of what has emerged as the policy dilemma of our generation, and the clear and direct manner in which Motomura offers this account reaffirms his place as one of the great teachers of our profession." --Stephen Lee, Harvard Law Review

"Immigration Outside the Law is an exceptional combination of accessible prose, analytic depth and rigor, exhaustive research and coverage, and humanity. In short, it is a gem, a treasure trove of information and essential reading for anyone interested in immigration or concerned about the lives of immigrants today." --Cecilia Menjivar, Cowden Distinguished Professor, T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University

"Thoughtful and forward-looking, Immigration Outside the Law clearly lays out recent immigration programs, initiatives, cases, and legislation, places these in historical perspective, and links them to debates over what the United States stands for as a nation. Motomura's explication of the complexity of the category 'unauthorized immigrant' is invaluable." --Susan Bibler Coutin, Professor of Criminology, Law & Society and Anthropology, University of California, Irvine

"Hiroshi Motomura here provides a brilliant framework for thinking about and debating the relationship between immigration and law-including how the government enforces the law. All of the major issues generating controversy in American political and legal circles are addressed here with Motomura's characteristic deep insights, broad perspective and fair-mindedness. The book is a tour de force that will be a touchstone for years to come." --John Skrentny, Professor of Sociology, University of California, San Diego

"Immigration Outside the Law is a masterful work that does the seemingly impossible by offering fresh ways to comprehend and resolve one of the most hotly-contested dilemmas on the public agenda. Motomura's analysis is richly developed, clarifying, and deeply insightful. This important book will alter the way we think and argue about unauthorized immigration." --Daniel Tichenor, Philip H. Knight Professor of Social Science, University of Oregon

"Motomura takes on one of the great moral questions of our time and in characteristic fashion produces an indispensable meditation on the social and legal meaning of unlawful immigration status. Refreshingly, he explains rather than condemns our national ambivalence. Through deft analysis of history, doctrine, and institutional practice, he demands that we see beyond our current politics to devise an immigration system that generations from now will comport with our commitments to social integration, equality, and the rule of law." --Cristina M. Rodriguez, Professor of Law, Yale Law School

Immigration Outside the Law

Hiroshi Motomura

From Our Blog

From news stories about unaccompanied minors from Central America to invisible workers without legal standing, immigration continues to stir debate in the United States. The arguments framing the issue are often inflected with distorted ideas and words. We sat down with Hiroshi Motomura, the author of Immigration Outside the Law, to discuss this contentious topic.